Real Enid Blyton

She is the most prolific children's author in history, but Enid Blyton is also the most controversial.

A remarkable woman who wrote hundreds of books in a career spanning forty years, even her razor sharp mind could never have predicted her enormous global audience.

Now, fifty years after her death, Enid remains a phenomenon, with sales outstripping every rival.

Parents and teachers lobbied against Enid's books, complaining they were simplistic, repetitive, and littered with sexist and snobbish undertones.

Blatant racist slurs were particularly shockingly; foreign and working class characters were treated with a distain that horrifies modern readers.

But regardless of the criticism, Enid worked until she could not physically write another word, famously producing thousands of words a day hunched over her manual typewriter.